A ceremony to inaugurate the statue of Quang Trung Emperor, who defeated Qing dynasty’s 200,000 troops of out of Vietnam in the spring of 1789, was held at the Ban mountain square in the ancient imperial city of Hue on Jan. 9.

The inauguration is one of activities towards the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium anniversary and of major culture activities of the central province of Thua Thien-Hue this year.

The national hero’s 21m high marble statue is made of 18 slabs, weighing 10-60 tonnes each. It was created by sculptor Le Dinh Quy.

Apart from the statue, these are temples dedicated to Emperor Quang Trung, Empress Le Ngoc Han and the mandarins of Tay Son dynasty and a showroom displaying documents and objects from the Tay Son uprising.

The total construction of the statue costs 19.8 billion VND (about 1 million USD).

Right after the inaugural ceremony, a festival to describe the national hero’s coronation was held with the participation of 1,480 artists./.